.....what I write when I am not writing software codes. Almost as illogical.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

The 'Gelf' Malayalee.

Everyone
knows Nancy, who writes at Reflections. Mom of two, exuberant and perpetually
young at heart, all her loyal followers knows the names and hobbies of her
beautiful daughters like their own. For example she could write about a simple
power cut in her home so interestingly, that by the end of it you’d realize
that power cuts are actually fun. She turns around any situation into a party. Each and every post of
hers has left me smiling and feeling better. After some persuasion, I got her to write a guest post on my blog. Yay! She was busier than a
bee all these days due to personal reasons, which I hope she will put it up on
her blog soon, but she remembered my request . Thank You Nancy !

I hope you
all enjoy reading it as much as I did… !

The
Gelf Malayalee!

In
the 1970’s & 80’s a tiny state in South India witnessed a mass migration of
its people to the gulf countries. The discovery of oil and shortage of
man-power in the gulf was like a prayer answered for many young men faced with bleak job prospects
in their home country.

Every
man took whatever job he got, worked hard and sent home almost all the money he
earned to pay up debts, to educate and to marry his siblings off into good
families. After a decade or so the family woke up to the fact that he was also
unmarried and scurried around to find him a suitable girl. They got him married
to a nurse/pharmacist/physiotherapist[select any one] and sent both back to the
desert. Both husband and wife worked day/night shifts, scrimped & saved to
educate their children + send money to their folks back home, all the while
aware that they were better off than many of their countrymen.

The
way the post is moving you can be forgiven for thinking I’m kind of glorifying
the Gulf Malayalees’[GM] achievements. Seriously I’m not. Oh all right maybe a
little. But my post is not about their trials and tribulations in foreign
land….it is about a few traits all the Malayalees living in the Gulf share
whether they like to admit it or not;-).

#So
jumping right in, let’s start with food…..the Gulf Malayalee’s eating habits
did not undergo any major transformation because he was living in the Middle
East[ME]. Rice and the usual curries were made in his kitchen as traditionally
as it was made in his tharavad[family home]. His only weakness was Kentucky
Fried Chicken. He never, ever got fed up of it. He ordered it for birthdays,
anniversaries, when guests dropped in, for farewell parties, in fact he is even
known to carry KFC home when he went on annual leave. The next time you travel
in a plane from UAE/Qatar/ Kuwait/ Bahrain/Saudi to Kerala and happen to smell
KFC, remember you heard it from me first;-).

#
As soon as the GM got his residence visa stamped, his first priority was to get
a driving license. His first car was a sturdy, practical model because at that
point owning a car itself was a huge achievement. But as time passed he unconsciously nursed a
secret desire in his heart. In his eyes the ultimate status symbol was a
Mercedes, which of course was way beyond his means. So he did the next best
thing. He bought a second-hand Mercedes and proudly drove it around till the
end of his stay in the ME. Not much has changed even today…..his children who
are all grown up now have a thing for 4 wheel drives mainly Prado & Range
rovers.

#
Another dream the GM worked hard to achieve was his ‘own’ house back in his
home country. He lived frugally and saved hard to make this dream come true. No
matter what his job in the ME, the house he built for himself came under the
category of mansions. It would have a huge hall, 3-4 bedrooms with ‘attached’
bathrooms & 2 or 3 kitchens depending on his means. Not to forget all the
light fittings, plumbing material and sofa/bedroom sets he carefully cargoes in
from the Gulf. Now for the saddest part…..this house would remain unused for
the better part of the GM’s life. By the time he decides to go back to live
there for good, his children would have settled down elsewhere leaving him
& wife to use just 1 bedroom & kitchen with the rest of the house shut
off to avoid further wear and tear.

#Another peculiar quirk of the GM…….he talks nostalgically of his hometown every
chance he gets; how he climbed trees, bathed in rivers, walked 8 kms to school
every day, how his home town was the best and how he yearned to go back. But
that’s all he does….he just talks. When it comes right down to it he delays his
going back using every excuse he can find. Simply put, he is afraid to give up
this comfortable life and start all over again. But he’ll never, ever admit
this, not even to himself.

Other
regular quirks associated with GMs’…

#
At any given point he’ll boast about the number of visas he has taken for
others and how they prospered because….onlybecause he took their visa
and made their life.

#The
GM’s luggage when he went home for vacation was sure to contain among other
things huge tins of Nido, Tang, Galaxy Chocolates, Reynolds pens, Fa Soap,
Nivea cream, Yardley Powder, Axe Oil and countless bottles of Tiger Balm to
distribute among relatives, friends, neighbors, the church priest, the village
doctor, the midwife who helped bring him into the world…..the list is endless.

#
Unless he was a professional, nobody back home knew what exactly he worked in the Gulf as…..he could be an office boy,
carpenter or a delivery boy slaving day & night for his Arab boss but when
he went home on annual leave he wore a gold chain thick as a rope around his
neck, a gold bracelet adorned his wrist and heavy rings on his fingers that
everybody assumed he had a great job in the gulf.

#
Before the Gulf Malayalee goes back to his home country for good, he makes sure
by fair means or foul his children too are well-settled in the same place he
made his life. It’s another story that the children are eyeing US, Canada and
even India[something GM parents simply cannot comprehend] to settle down…

Like
I said, that’s another story.

Does
anybody want to agree/add value/defend the subject of the post???

Anybody
who knows a Gulf Kashmiri/Gujarati/Bengali/Tamilian can also give their
take:-).

[This Gelf
Malayalee claims to be no expert on the subject and writes[tongue-in-cheek]
based solely on personal experiences & hearsay.]

Dear Red handed, I'm sure you are thethi-thariking ur gelf ungle....that perfume had to be original. Gulf countries show zero tolerance for fakes. Ungle wd have never taken the risk. Which brings me to another point, we gelf malayalees keep a respectful distance from the police/law;-).

I can see a disrespect to all GMs in the above post. Please respect the hardship and sufferings GMs are having there.. People on those days are forced to go out of there so called small beautiful state to feed their siblings and parents..

Sarath, I'm so happy to see a comment siding with the hard-working GM. U r absolutely right, many families have survived because one of their members went to the Gulf and improved the lives and life-style of the rest of them.But I'm puzzled why you have referred to Kerala as a "so called beautiful state"??? Kerala is a beautiful state, period:-)).

In Tamil movies, some good comedy scenes are centered around gulf-returnees. Vadivelu, especially, has essayed that role to perfection. Have a look at the comedy scenes from a movie called 'vetri kodi kattu' from Youtube, if any of you can understand Tamil :)

Yes, yes, and yes to alll!! I know loads of Gulf Malayalees But the one I talk to the most is my cabbie. He has so many stories of bathing in the river and climbing trees!I would want to talk about the Gulf NRI and what a pampered lot we are here. How the Arabs have spoilt us and we just can't go back home now... something that we talk about alll the time.

Brilliant analysis!! In Mangalore, the gulf uncles marry a girl and leave her behind to look after the family. Over time, the girls have started living with their own parents while the husband visits in a year or two and spends lavishly.

It was the same in Kerala too. Earlier men left their wives behind because they didnt have 'family status' but now the situation is different I think, most men get family visa and take their wives back with them.

Oh Nancy, first of all a big thanks for Anita's persuasion to get you to post here. Its a pleasure to read your posts and this one is no different. I just reminsced the memories of my Gelf ungles and andies :-) :-) how true!!

BTW, missed you in blogsphere and you better start blogging again. :-)

good to read a post from u nance. you make it fun regardless of the subject. the first para tells me you can be a serious writer too if you want to be. once you are out of your relocation? mode hope to see more of you not just in blogs but newspaper, journals, magazines..

Does anyone want to agree? I agree whole heartedly. I have seen it all/experienced it all. (I am not a GM) That "leaving him and his wife to use one kitchen of the Manson" is so true (and so sad) The only thing that has changed of late is getting things from there, as the same things at the same rate is available here in India. I say it would have been more beneficial if they could use the money for the development of the state (than building those mansions)

I get what u mean Haddock, initially we too planned to take everything from here but whatever amt we were saving on the items was levelled out with duty/customs/cargo charges. Then there are also the risks we must consider while sending a cargo. If u are wondering, we did send cargo but minus the electrical appliances....what's the use of being a GM without sending atleast 1 or 2 cargoes in our lifetime;-P.

I am a proud malayalee in chennai managing my own business, im going to tell about the people who live outside our state. For Tamil Peoples everyone is chetta, here most of our malayalee people has own tea stall and they are well. Chetta tea is the common word in tea stalls here. my friend told me that these malayalee people are very gentle and suttle we can approach them easily for help and can talk friendly without any hesitation. I felt very proud, I also want to know how foreign people react to our malayalee people. My brother is living in saudi., i miss him very much always Im reading the Latest NRI News in Malayalam and Gulf News